K Chandrasekhar Rao: The Man Who Revived Telangana Movement
With Telangana set to become India's 29th state, Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao or KCR, as he is popularly known among his supporters, will go down in history as the man who played a key role by reviving the movement for a separate state 14 years ago.
KCR almost achieved the goal in 2009 by going on an indefinite fast, forcing the central government to announce that the process for a separate Telangana state will be initiated.However, the backlash in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions forced the Centre to put the issue in cold storage. (Text courtesy: Agencies)
While the Congress, the BJP and even Telangana leaders of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) tried to take credit, even the bitter critics of 60-year-old KCR admit that it was he who started alone by floating Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).He resigned as deputy speaker of the Andhra Pradesh assembly and quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to revive the movement, which was all but dead despite the massive agitation in 1969.Hailing from Medak district, the frail-looking KCR gave the slogan of self-respect and self-rule. With his trade-mark Telangana lingo, he proved a crowd puller. (Text courtesy: Agencies)
Though KCR succeeded in taking the Telangana issue to the center stage and extracted promises from the Congress-led UPA government, for some years he failed to achieve his goal.His flip-flop on the issue, the repeated deadlines he fixed for achieving the goal, his perceived dictatorial attitude and controversial decisions disillusioned the party cadre and 10 legislators staged a revolt. (Text courtesy: Agencies)
In 2009, when the Supreme Court declared Hyderabad a free zone in matters of recruitment to police department, KCR saw an opportunity to bounce back. The TRS started protests and KCR himself went on hunger strike.His deteriorating condition and massive protests across the region again forced the Centre to concede the demand. (Text courtesy: Agencies)
